Getty Tom Brady revealed a shoulder separation he sustained in 2021.
Tom Brady kept at least one injury secret during his career.
The former New England Patriots and Tampa Bay Buccaneers quarterback revealed that he separated his shoulder in a 2021 game against the Buffalo Bills during his “Let’s Go!” podcast on Monday, October 30. Talking with Bills quarterback and guest Josh Allen, Brady said that he suffered a separated shoulder on a quarterback sneak during the December 2021 game, a 33-27 win by the Buccaneers.
“From my standpoint, you’re putting yourself in harm’s way, and when you put yourself in harm’s way, it doesn’t take much for someone to land on you, to set you back,” Brady said.
“For example, I separated my left shoulder [and] I separated my right shoulder. In fact, in a quarterback sneak when we played when I was in Tampa, I separated my shoulder on a quarterback sneak on the goal line,” Brady added.
Brady mentioned Bills linebacker Matt Milano on the first quarter play, which resulted in a scuffle between the two teams afterward. Brady finished the game, and his shoulder injury never appeared on the injury report in the Buccaneers’ remaining games.
“And it bothered me the rest of the season, but look, I was trying to gain one yard, and gaining that one yard cost me eight weeks of arm pain,” Brady added. “Now, In my mind, could I have given that to a 230-pound halfback, yeah probably could have, but in the moment I’m like ‘no, I gotta get this ball in’, so that’s kind of the decisions you make as a quarterback.”
Brady certainly had the option of running back Leonard Fournette at the time but opted not to. Despite playing well into his 40s, Brady had 157 quarterback sneak attempts through 2020 alone — a league-high for quarterbacks between 2001 and 2020.
Tom Brady Exhorts Josh Allen to Run Less
While Brady made use of his legs at times in his career, he exhorted Allen to be more judicious with running the ball. Allen has 582 career attempts in six seasons compared to Brady’s 693 attempts in 23 seasons.
“And I would love to see Josh save those for very special moments and special occasions to run the ball rather than to run the ball six minutes into the game on a second and six,” Brady said.
“Not that he shouldn’t run, but when he does run,[expletive] slide, and make sure no one hits you because I don’t want to see him ever get hurt, and I want to see him out there playing every week because he’s such a [expletive] stud,” Brady added.
Allen rushed for 41 yards in his last outing against the Buccaneers, which fell short against the Bills 24-18 this time around in Week 8. He didn’t have as much luck against Brady’s first former team with just 17 yards on the ground in a 29-25 loss to the Patriots in Week 7.
Tom Brady Compares Josh Allen to His Oldest Son
Brady recognized his advice might not impact Allen’s playing style. The seven-time Super Bowl champion likened Allen to his oldest son, Jack.
“He’s like my oldest son,” Brady said. “I try to tell him, but in the end, he’s just gotta do it his way. Speaking from a few years of experience, he still just wants to do it his way.”